Carton



Dec. 9, 1941. F. n. GRQVES 2,265,280

CARTON Filed July 13, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Dec. 9, 1941. F. H.'GRovl-:s

CARTON Filed July 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .1: .JUE

INVETOR Patented Dec. 9, 194i UNITED ST TES YPATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

The invention relates to containers, particularly to knock-down cartons constructed of paper-board.

More particularly, the invention relates to tamper-proof cartons; that is, to cartons formed of paper-board blanks that are provided with locking devices, such in kind and organization that each carton, once it has been erected and closed, is locked. In order to gain access to the contents of such locked carton, the paper-board body of the carton must be broken, torn, or otherwise permanently disgured.

The invention consists in certain valuable reinements and elaborations in the structure of such tamper-proof cartons.

In the accompanying drawings an embodiment of the invention is in exemplary way illustrated:

Fig. I is a view in plan of a paper-board blank, of which a carton of the invention is constructed.

Fig. II is a View of the paper-board blank in section, on the plane II-II of Fig. I, showing the blank in course of erection into a carton.

Fig. III is a view comparable with Fig. II, showing the blank in a more advanced stage of erection.

Fig IV is a fragmentary View, showing the upper end of the erected carton in side elevation, with the end flaps in position to be closed and locked.

Fig. V is a' view of the carton in end elevation, with the bottom wall-forming portions of the carton united, ready for the inner and outer end flaps to be closed thereon and secured.

Fig. VI is a fragmentary view, showing the lower end of the carton in perspective, with the inner flap closed upon the bottom wall oi the carton, and the outer flap in position to be closed and secured upon the inner ap.

Fig. VII is a fragmentary View, showing the upper end of the carton in perspective, with the top wall-forming portions of the carton united, ready for the inner and outer cover flaps to be closed and locked.

And Fig. VIII is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on the vertical plane indicated at VIII- VIII in Fig. VII, and showing to larger scale the cover aps at the top of the carton in closed and locked position.

Referring to Fig. I, the blank B, of which a typical carton of the invention is constructed, consists in a single web of paper-board, cut to pattern, and creased on the dot-dash lines illustrated. The blank includes portions a, b, c and d that are adapted to form the four side walls of the erected carton, and notched portions e and f that are adapted in known way to be interlocked, to form the bottom wall of the carton, together with portions gfand h that provide inner and outer bottom iiaps which overlie and reinforce the bottom wall of the carton. The blank also includes notched portions i and i that form the top wall of the carton, and portions 1c and p that provide inner and outer cover naps which overlie and reinforce such top wall of the carton. Ihe portion d is continued laterally in a strip m, while a tongue n is provided on the outer edge of portion a, such tongue including tangs or wings o, o that are slit from the body of blank portion a, as at 4, 4, and adapted to be bent on lines 5, 5, to admit of the erection of the carton in the manner presently to appear. The strip m includes an elongate slot 9U that is contiguous with theline la on which the strip is adapted t0 be bent from the plane of portion d, and the inner bottom ap g is in such manner provided with a slot 9i. The inner cover flap 1c is provided with an orice 92. The utility of these openings in the blank will presently appear.

The blank is provided with male and female locking elements 6 and 'l that are riveted severally to two of said carton-wall-forming portions of the paper-board blank. More specifically, the male element 6 is riveted to the portion p that forms the outer cover flap of the erected carton, while the female element is secured to the portion c that forms one of the side walls of the erected carton. It is important to note that the locking elements are applied and secured to the faces of the portions p and c that in the erected carton are inner faces, faces enclosed within the body of the carton. Adv'antageously, if not essentially, the locking elements are formed of sheet metal, a strong sheet metal, such as tin-plate.

As described in an application for Letters Patent Serial No. 281,872, filed by me June 29, 1939, the integral sheet-metal body of the male element includes two portions: a basal portion (to which the reference numeral 6 is immediately applied), and a hook portion Ga. The female element includes a portion la which, offset from and inclined to the otherwise flat sheet-metal body of the element, forms with the adjacent wall of the blank an open-ended, convergent socket. Such socket is adapted to receive the hook portion of the complementary male element.

The means for riveting or securing the locking elements to the blank B may take various forms, although I prefer to attach the locking elements in the manner described in Letters Patent No. 2,100,644, granted to me on November 30, 1937.

That is to say, the thin body of each locking element is pierced at several points 8 with a pointed instrument, providing pointed tangs (not shown) that are pressed into the paper-board body of the blank and clinched, as illustrated and described in said patent.

In order for the locking elements 6 and 'l to be brought together and joined in locking engagement in the erected carton, it is necessary that the hook portion 6a of the male locking element 6 shall stand substantially normal to the plane of the carton wall portion to which it is secured-- to the cover flap p in this case. However, for reasons set forth in an application for Letters Patent Serial No. 283,802, filed July 11, 1939, I

provide a male locking element which, as applied to the blank B, is substantially flat, ,anldv extends substantially in the plane of the blank. When the blank is in course of erection into acarton,

the hook portion 6a of the male locking element is bent on a transverse axis 60, throughninety degrees from the plane of the blank portion p. Thus, the male locking element is brought into proper position, to enter carton-locking engagement with the female element 1. To the end that such bending of the male element may be effected readily and with precision, the body of the element is weakened at the center or axis 60 of bending, say by means of opposite marginal notches 6 I To further an understanding of the structural features of my present invention, I shall describe how the blank is fashioned into the form of a carton. Referring to Fig. I, the strip m is bent upward, on the line la, through 90 from the plane of the blank; the tongue'n is in like manner bent on the line lb; and the tangs or wings o, are bent on the lines 5, 5 and swung into position flat against the upper face of the tongue. Then the blank is folded on the lines or creases between the Portions a, b, c, and d, in such manner as to form a tube of rectangular cross section, with the strip m positioned against the inner surface of the carton wall portion a, and with the locking elements 6 and 'I` located within the tube. When, in such folding of the blank, the tongue-bearing edge of portion a approaches the strip-bearing edge of portion d (Fig. II) the tongue n, with the tangs o, o folded against it, is inserted and pressed into` the slot 99. When the tongue-carrying margin of portion a is thus brought to position against strip m (Fig. III), and the blank brought into the form of the. tube alluded to, the tangs or wings 0, o are. spread outward against the inner face of wall portion d, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. IV. As so positioned, the tangs or wings extend outward from (above and below, as. shown in Fig. IV) the` op..` posite ends of the slot 90, and serve to secure the otherwise free edge of wall portion a tothe stripe bearing edge of wall portion d. When the car.y ton has been thus erected into the form of a rectangular tube, it only remains toV close the Wall portions and aps e, f, g, h, and i, y', lc, p at the opposite ends of the tube, to complete the erection of the carton and provide Y a closed; and. locked container. Before describing such closing of the ends of the carton I may mention one of the permissive modifications.

As described in. my above-noted co-pending application, the tongue n and slot 99 may be omitted, and the strip m may be glued or otherwise permanently secured to the freeedge ofthe stri-pn, so that. the treatment of the bla-nk thus far described will have been completed beforethe blank reaches the hands of the ultimate user.

In closing the bottom of the partially erected carton, the notched end wall portions e and are folded inward and interengaged in known way (of. Fig. V), and'then the inner bottom ap g is closed upon such closed end wall or bottom of the carton. It will be perceived that the outer bottom flap h is provided with a tongue q, after the manner that the carton-wall-forming portion a of the blank is provided with tongue n, and, as in the case of the tongue n, the tongue q is provided with wings or tangs r, r. When the outer bottom flap h is about to be closed, the

Wings 1^, 1* are folded (Fig. VI) to position upon the face of the tongue q, and, as the flap h is then swung to overlapping position upon the flap y. the 4tongue q is inserted and pressed home in the slot 9|. Then, by reaching the hand or a suitable instrument into the carton, the wings 1', r are spread into position against the inner surface of the carton wall c, and the assembled flaps are thus secured in closed position, in the same general manner that the meeting edges of the side wall portions a and dare by the tongue n and wings o, o secured in assembly. It is to be remarked that the bottom wall flaps e and f are marginally recessed, as at 93, to provide clearance for the passage through of the tongue q.

The carton is thus brought into condition to receive the goods which it is to contain. When the carton has been filled, its upper end or top is closed and locked. Specifically, the top wall portions i and j are interlocked, as shown in Fig. VII, and then the inner cover flap lc is. swung into closed position upon such interlocked portions. It is important to note that the portions i and i aremarginally recessed, as at 94,' 95, respectively; these marginal recesses provide, in conjunction with the orice 92 in the cover flap lc (Fig. VIII), a clearance or passage through which the hook portion 6a of the male locking element may be inserted and engaged in the female element l.

Before the outer cover flap p is swung into closed position, the hook portion 6a of the male locking element is bent into service position; that is, it is bent from the plane of the iiap p, as shown in full lines in Fig. VII, into the position shown in dotted lines. Then, as the flap is closed, the portion 6a is, introduced through opening 92, 9.4, 95 (Fig. VIII) to the socket formed by and between the female element and the wall c of the carton. Itl is, important to note that the walls of such socket are downwardly convergent, as viewed in Fig. VIII, and that the hook at the distal end of the male element is of greater lateral extent than the interval between the lower edge of wall; portion 'la ofthe female element and the wall c of the carton.` Accordingly, as theV portion 6a of the male element is pressed downward, during the closing of flap p, the portion of carton wall c opposite` to the inclined wall portion 1a of the female element yields outward, as indicated by the dotted line c in Fig. VIII, and'. permits downward movement of the male element inthe female socket. When the hooked end of the downwardly moving male element passes below the lower edge of female portion 1n, the wedging or spreading force of the hooked end of the male element ls no longer effective, and the carton wall portion c springs back into normal position inthe plane of wall C, and presses the hooked end of the male element into latched' engagement. withA the lower edgeY of portion, la. of the female element and An important feature or the inventioniies in the structural organization of the locking elements upon the Walls of the carton, to the end that the elasticity possessed by the walls of the socket 1a, c'more particularly the elasticity or resilience of the paper-board wall portion c', may be utilized, -as described, to move the hook or latch portion of the male element into cartonlocking engagement with the female element. This is a feature that will prove valuable in destructible or tamper-proof cartons of widely different constructions. Considering the manner in which the hooked end 6a, of the male locking element, when the carton is being locked, forces the Wall of the carton outward at c', it will be understood that such hooked end is not only of greater transverse extent than the pocket formed between the female element and the carton wall, but is also of greater rigidity than the carton wall. In prior structures the bodies of the locking elements themselves are made readily yieldable to admit of their relative movement into engaged position, but in the structure of this invention the locking elements are relatively rigid, and the essential yielding or spreading of the parts, when the locking elements are being brought into engagement, is provided in the wall c of the carton. By virtue of this my locking elements may be made stronger than those in which a relatively high degree of elasticity is essential.

1t will be understood that those skilled in the art may provide many modifications in the structural form and arrangement of the carton walls and flaps, and in the structure and organization of the locking elements, without departing from the invention defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a tamper-proof carton formed of paperboard and including four side walls and a top and a bottom wall; the refinement herein described in which said top wall of the carton includes two wall-forming portions severally fold ed from the planes of two of the side walls of the carton and united, and inner and outer cover flaps severally folded from the planes of the other two side walls of the carton and overlapped, one upon the other, on said united topwall-forming portions, the inner cover flap including a perforation adjacent to the line on which it is folded from its associate side wall, said top-wall-forming portions being recessed to provide when united a passage immediately within said perforation, a female locking element secured immediately below said passage and orice to the carton side Wall that is integral with said inner cover flap, and the outer cover flapt carrying a male locking element extending through said orifice and passage into cartonlocking engagement with said female element.

2. The structure of the next-preceding claim, in which said male element includes a latch prtion and said female element includes a portion forming with the side wall of the carton a downwardly converging, open-ended socket, said latch portion of the male element being of greater effective transverse depth than said socket, and the socket-forming portion of said female element being Vof greater rigidity than the complementary socket-forming wall portion of the carton, with the effect that said socket-forming wall portion of the carton yields outward from nofr-l mal position when the latch portion of the male' element is in the closing of the carton pressed downward with wedging effect in said socket, said socket-forming wall portion of the carton being adapted, as the male element reaches fully inserted position in said socket, to return to normal position, pressing said latch portion of the male element into carton-locking engagement with said female element.

3. A paperboard carton including wall portions relatively movable in closing the carton, a male locking element with a latch portion secured upon one of said wall portions, and a female locking element secured upon the other of said wall portions, said female locking element forming with the carton-wall portion upon which it is secured a downward converging open-ended socket adapted to receive said male element when the carton is closed, the latch portion of said male element being of greater rigidity than the wall of the carton on which said female element is secured, and such latch portion being of greater lateral or transverse extent than the lower or inner end of said socket, the carton wall that carries said female element being yieldable and aording expansibility of said socket at its said lower or inner end, with the eect that the latch portion of the male element, upon being pressed into said socket in the closing of the carton, temporarily expands the socket and admits the latch portion of the male element to carton-locking engagement with the female element.

4. A paper-board carton including two wall portions relatively movable in closing the carton, and including male and female locking elements severally secured to said wall portions, said male locking element including a latch portion, and said female element including a body portion forming with the carton wall portion to which it is secured a downwardly converging openended socket, said latch portion of the male locking element being of greater lateral or transverse extent than the lower or inner end of said socket, and the socket-forming body portion of said female element and the latch portion of the male element being of greater rigidity than the socket-forming portion of the carton wall, with the effect that, when in the closing of the carton said male element is pressed into said socket, said socket-forming portion of the carton wall yields outward temporarily from normal position, said socket-forming portion of the carton wall being adapted, as the male element reaches fully inserted position in said socket, to return to normal position, pressing said latch portion of the male element into carton-locking engagement with said female element.

5. A tamper-proof carton formed of paperboard and including four side walls and a top and a bottom, said top comprising four flaps, one nap integral with, and folded inward from, each of said side walls, two of said flaps severally forming inner and outer cover flaps that are overlapped upon the other two flaps, the outer cover flap carrying adjacent the edge remote from the line on which it is united to its associate side wall a male locking element having a latch portion, the three flaps positioned within or beneath said outer cover flap being formed to provide adjacent the line of union of the inner extended; aafemale.. locking. element'` secured to.` the4 lastementionedgside. wall `ofgsacl cartonwithfinol: beneath said; passage, said. femalerlocking element formingswithsaid last side Walla socket; adaptedY to receive ,the male, element proj ectedy through said passage, the. latch4 portiony of saidl ma1ez1ocking;YA element` being.- of greater rigidity than thensidelv Wall` oi?l the carton topwhichrsaid: 1@

coveri flapto.; its; associate 1, side Wall A al; passage; throughjwhichjsaid male locking;e1ement'mayfbei EREDERIGK.-.H. .GROVE 

